I'm going to assume he knows those walls really, really well. Even if he's climbed them a thousand times, that's a pretty impressive demonstration, especially considering I can get vertigo from looking at pictures from high in the air.posted by Pragmatica at 8:11 AM on July 29, 2009

By which I mean, it looks to this viewer like he must be knackering his finger joints, and will quickly end up falling a fair distance or, perhaps worse, just another crocked guy, aged before his time and reminiscing about how he was invincible when he was young.posted by MuffinMan at 8:13 AM on July 29, 2009

Oh yeah, right... 0:50 to the end is just 0:17 of recording run backwards.

...

Isn't it?

I mean, the only alternative is to believe that he has eyeballs in his feet.

So yeah... backwards, then...posted by Mike D at 8:16 AM on July 29, 2009

Cool! Reminds me of my son when he was younger. He used to be like a monkey and climb up walls 10-12 feet in the air until I'd yell at him to get down. Amazingly, he never fell.posted by garnetgirl at 8:37 AM on July 29, 2009

The downclimbing is pretty impressive - that's very difficult to do. It's probably a bit easier on a wall with blocks of a regular size, because you know more or less where the holds will be before you get there, but it's still not something I could do.posted by echo target at 8:45 AM on July 29, 2009

"...but it's still not something I could do."

Rest assured that you are in the vast majority on that count.posted by bz at 8:56 AM on July 29, 2009

As someone who has spent a little time on the sides of cliffs/mountains etc.,

wow.

just... wow.

As echo target pointed out... downclimbing is the tricky part... because your eyes are about as far as they can be from the direction in which you're traveling. It's hard to see footholds when your chest/legs/feet are blocking the view. Plus you're having to look DOWN. Presumably you don't have too much difficulty with heights if you're climbing, but yeah... down is much harder than up (unless you're using rope and harness, then you can rappel down... and THAT'S fun!)posted by krash2fast at 10:30 AM on July 29, 2009

The problem with videos like this is that I stupidly believe that if it can be done, and I see someone do it, that it follows that I should be able to do it as well.

And then I try.

And then I realize that no, it is not possible for the average person to climb down a wall that way.

But falling down a wall in a completely different way? Now That's something that I can do.posted by quin at 10:54 AM on July 29, 2009

i'd be interested to see how he fares on some of the tougher climbs out there - the 5.14's and above. Obviously wouldn't want him to attempt those without a harness and rope.posted by spacediver at 11:19 AM on July 29, 2009

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